


Comfort Zones

by Aston (AstonT)



Series: Joshler [2]
Category: Panic! at the Disco, Twenty One Pilots
Genre: "Blind Dates", Anxiety, but they're still musical, they aren't in a band
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-17
Packaged: 2018-08-31 14:59:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8582824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AstonT/pseuds/Aston
Summary: Josh and Tyler meet on a technical blind date - they were both drug along on a faux-double date by their friends.They didn't go in expecting to actually get along





	

"Do I have to do this?" Tyler asked as Brendon dug through his wardrobe.

Brendon threw a look at the other boy. "Yes, Ty. You have to do this. I'm not going alone, _and_ Ryan's already asked one of his friends to come along as well. You're not going to be an ass and not show up."

Tyler groaned, but didn't argue as Brendon threw Tyler a pair of jeans and went back to digging through the other boy's wardrobe.

He didn't complain as he got changed, knowing that he either did it himself without complaint or Brendon would do it for him, which is something he didn't want.

"You have got to get some decent clothes," Brendon complained absently.

* * *

The two wound up being slightly late.

Tyler sighed quietly as Brendon apologized and made some excuse to Ryan.

"Don't understand why they drug us on their date either?"

Tyler glanced up to see purple hair, mocha eyes, and a friendly smile. "Or why Brendon decided he'd spend an hour raiding my closet like it mattered," he offered.

"Because it does matter," Brendon said, sounding annoyed as they took seats. "Your appearance definitely matters the first time you meet someone."

Tyler raised an eyebrow at Brendon before looking over at Josh. "I'm Tyler, by the way," he offered.

"Josh,"

Brendon rolled his eyes at the two of them, but said nothing, instead going back to talking with Ryan.

* * *

Eating in front of strangers was something Tyler wasn't good at - he was already a ball of anxiety on a normal basis, adding that added stress made him a shy mess of shaking hands and muttered excuses.

But Brendon made him eat. "You didn't eat before we left, you have to eat here," he said sternly when Tyler went to argue. "I'm sorry, but I promised to take care of you when I helped you move out!"

Tyler groaned, but relented, resigning himself to being awkward and not talking or meeting anyone's eyes through dinner.

Josh gave a smile down to the table in response to this.

* * *

About halfway through dinner, Josh spoke. "So...I'm going to suggest next time this happens, we go somewhere else." he offered.

"Taco Bell?" Tyler asked, looking at Brendon with pleading eyes. "If you're going to drag me somewhere to eat again, it better be Taco Bell, Bren, or I will make sure to make you suffer,"

Brendon laughed. "You are unhealthily obsessed with Taco Bell," he told the brunette boy. "But fine. If I drag you along again to eat with us, we'll go to Taco Bell. Happy?"

Tyler nodded happily, smiling as he went back to his food.

Josh was staring at Tyler with a strange expression, but he shook his head with an easy grin and returned his attention to his food again.

Ryan laughed. "Josh is fond of Taco Bell as well. He just likes informal settings better," he commented to Brendon.

Brendon rolled his eyes, but was smiling fondly at the two in response to Ryan's words and the situation. "I don't think you could've invited a better person along to meet Ty," he admitted.

Ryan shared a smile with him before shrugging.

* * *

At the end of the night, Tyler rode home with Brendon and listened contentedly to the excitable boy while he talked.

As soon as he was out of the car, Brendon rolled the window down with a grin. "I gave Josh your number, by the way. You need more friends, Ty." he said.

Tyler glowered at him. "Bren, you know I don't..."

Brendon held a hand up, silencing Tyler's protests. "Too bad. I did it. You can thank me later. Goodnight,"

And then he was gone.

Tyler sighed, turning and going inside to settle for the night.

* * *

 It was about a week later that Josh actually got in touch with him via text. 

Tyler paused what he was writing to glance at his phone curiously, knowing it wasn't Brendon, since he'd already told the excitable boy to leave him be for a while to write.

He skimmed the message before he saved the contact in his phone under Josh's name and replied.

_2:47 pm_

_Hi. Not to be rude, but I'm kinda busy???_

He was glad when Josh replied with a kind message, understanding instead of being upset at being brushed off. 

Of course, at close to five, Brendon showed up, Ryan and Josh with him.

"Ty!"

"Bedroom!"

Brendon immediately took off, leaving the two boys with no choice but to follow him.  He was just throwing the door open happily as they caught up.

"Have you even left your room for food today?" Brendon demanded, eyes narrowing when he saw Tyler still sitting on his bed in sweats, keyboard in front of him.

Tyler waved him off, eyes staying on the keys contemplatively. "Why are you here, Bren?"

"Ryan and Josh wanted to hang out, and I figured it'd be nice for you to actually socialize," Brendon deadpanned, entering the room and plopping down on the bed beside Tyler.

Tyler glanced up then, looking at Brendon before looking past him to see the two standing in the doorway. He gave a wry, nervous smile. "Sorry. You guys can come in if you want? Just....sorry."

"You get used to it," Brendon offered as the two came in and found seats - Ryan sat down quietly in the chair, and Josh contented himself by sitting in the windowsill.

"Is this what you meant by busy earlier?" Josh asked curiously, watching Tyler as he messed with the keyboard absently.

"Kinda?" Tyler said, then shrugged.

Brendon rolled his eyes, moving to reach around Tyler to grab his notebook curiously.

As he started flipping through pages, Tyler finally started paying more attention to what he was doing and grabbed for the notebook.

Brendon immediately stood up, moving out of Tyler's reach. "No." he warned, throwing the other a look. "You told me to fuck off so you could write, I want to see what you've got,"

"You really don't," Tyler warned, but stopped trying to get the notebook back.

Brendon hummed, finally finding the last song Tyler had written lyrics down for and settling back on the bed to read them.

"You write songs?" Ryan asked curiously, knowing Brendon's curiosity levels tended to be higher when it came to music.

"Wouldn't call them that," Tyler grumbled, looking down again.

"He does," Brendon offered absently. "He just...doesn't like sharing them. They're personal, but they're really good,"

Silence fell for a few moments before Tyler started absently playing something on the keyboard to break up the quiet.

No one spoke again until Brendon finished reading. Then he shook his head in amusement. "I've half a mind to send these lyrics to your family," he pointed out. 

Tyler glanced up at Brendon warily. "Why?"

"Because they'd like them?" Brendon responded, giving Tyler a strange look. "Well...maybe."

Tyler rolled his eyes, mumbling something under his breath but not responding.

Josh cleared his throat. "So...what's going on?"

Brendon glanced at Tyler apologetically before he spoke. "Ty's lyrics tend to be really...personal and it's hard for a lot of people to understand them until they know Ty or they know the situation leading into the feelings expressed in the lyrics. High school was a blast with him, 'cause our music teacher adored throwing him up in front of everyone to perform his music."

"That wasn't _a blast,_ Brendon!" Tyler complained, scowling at his best friend.

Brendon threw a grin to him, then continued talking. "There's a lot of things that make you think in his stuff, you know?"

"So the complete opposite of nearly anything you make," Ryan finished with an amused smile.

Brendon nodded in agreement, letting Tyler take his notebook back without complaint.

"I'd love to hear something sometime," Josh offered, giving an easy smile. "Trust me, being friends with Ryan's given me a new appreciation for original works,"

Tyler shrugged, but didn't respond. Instead, he put his notebook on his bedside table and got up, immediately moving to grab clothes and disappear.

Brendon sighed. "He'll open up eventually," he commented.

The three relocated to the living room after that.

* * *

Tyler didn't spend long getting showered and dressed, and within about fifteen minutes, he was padding through the living room with wet hair and barefoot, ignoring the three in favor of the idea of food. 

Brendon rolled his eyes. "It might help if you dried your hair and put shoes on," he pointed out once Tyler had come back with a sandwich and sat down on one of the chairs, shivering.

"Food was more important," Tyler countered with a shrug.

Brendon gave up trying to argue with him. After a moment, he spoke again. "You never explained why you keep it so cold here,"

"The same reason they keep it so cold in schools," Tyler pointed out. "Colder environments tend to offer a calmer atmosphere."

Ryan was the one to counter this. "Except they've sort of proven that it doesn't work that way. In fact, it tends to be if you're in a cold environment for a long period of time, your mind starts to wander more. It's something a couple of my friends tried to research and I didn't bother to argue with them,"

Tyler was quiet for a long moment before he nodded in understanding.

* * *

"We really shouldn't have brought him here," Brendon said with a groan when they had settled in the local park - Tyler had immediately taken off and was currently sitting on a high branch in a tree. "I don't want to have to call his parents and tell them he died falling out of a tree,"

But they didn't try to talk Tyler into getting down. Instead, they let him be since he seemed content.

Once most of the other people cleared out, it was getting dark.

Brendon sighed, but moved to the bottom of the tree. "Ty!"

Tyler jumped slightly, but looked down at Brendon, barely catching himself from falling.

Brendon flinched slightly as he watched this. "Come on. Get down from there. Food and watching a sunset from your roof is on the schedule."

Tyler was down not long after that. "Sunset first, then I'll cook?" he offered.

"Or we could go get food somewhere, since you're not sleeping tonight,"

Josh and Ryan both gave Brendon a strange look as they all headed back to Tyler's house.

"Why wouldn't he be sleeping tonight?" Josh asked curiously.

"I don't usually get much sleep at night," Tyler admitted. "I think too much at night,"

"Ball of anxiety," Brendon commented dryly.

Tyler was immediately gone once the door was unlocked and opened.

Brendon sighed, but led the other two to Tyler's room. "Out the window. Watch your step,"

Hesitation happened, but Brendon immediately did as he'd told them to do, and eventually they joined them.

Tyler rested his chin on the top of his knees, eyes glued to the sky.

The other three talked quietly, but Josh watched Tyler curiously as the colors in the sky faded to dark blue to midnight black-blue, speckled with silver and white.

Once the lights had faded and there was a shadow cast on everything, Brendon spoke. "C'mon, Ty. Food."

Tyler nodded in agreement, moving to the edge of the roof and climbing his way down.

Brendon watched him worriedly before he followed, immediately turning to help the other two down. "I'm always scared you'll just let yourself fall when you do that," he told Tyler. "Or that you'll trip or something,"

Tyler shrugged. "It's not that far of a drop. Most that would happen is I'd break my ankle or something,"

No argument came, and soon they were on their way for food -Taco Bell, as promised.

Unfortunately, that meant Tyler got stuck driving.

"No radio?" Josh asked in surprise.

Tyler shook his head. "Haven't got a new one yet," he offered. "It's been gone for about two years now. It malfunctioned and I never got around to getting a replacement."

Brendon watched him carefully as he drove. He supposed it helped that there was the constant noise of absent chatter going on to keep Tyler distracted.

* * *

"Is he always that....anxious?" Josh asked once they'd all left Tyler to his own devices for the night. 

Brendon shrugged. "Not usually. But usually, he has warning,"

"He's different, that's for sure," Ryan offered. "Not in a bad way. Just...I don't know, I guess it's strange to know that he's friends with you, Bren, but then see how quiet he is."

"Yeah, I know." Brendon said with a quiet laugh.


End file.
